Alive Again
by Drusilla13
Summary: How Harry brings Sirius back, what happens afterwards. Set after the Ootp. Please R&R!
1. Blood and Tears

**~Alive Again~**

**~Chapter One~ Blood and Tears~**

**AN: This is set after the Ootp, so it does have spoilers in this. Please R&R!**

Harry Potter was eating dinner with the Dursley's, well; he wasn't really eating, just pushing food around his plate.

"So, whatever happened to that godfather of yours?" said Uncle Vernon.

Harry looked up at him, not believing what he had just said. He put down his fork and headed upstairs to his bedroom as quick as he could. He could feel the tears in his eyes and as they fell down his cheeks. He got to his bedroom and slammed the door and locked it. He found his dagger and started to cut his wrist next to the marks that he had made previously. He didn't cut very deep, he never did, but it was enough to draw blood. He remembered how he last saw Sirius, that bitch that killed him and the veil. He still felt that it was all his fault, Voldemort, the bastard, had tricked him, and so had Kreacher. 

Harry did not want to sleep; he never slept much anymore, with all the nightmares. He lay down on his bed though and looked at his wrist. He didn't want to kill himself; after all, everyone was counting on him. He wondered if he would be able to do it, kill Voldemort, or would he be the one killed? Would Voldemort take over the world? As well as feeling betrayed and angry, he felt as though the world had just been dumped on his shoulders.

As he put down the dagger, an owl flew through the window with a letter. It was from Hermione.

_Dear Harry,_

_I really hope that you are alright and the muggles are treating you alright. _

_Please reply, I would love to hear from you,_

_From Hermione,_

Harry sighed, _"Fucking hell,"_ he thought _"They could write something interesting, and with all these letters, I dunno how to reply to all of them," _he had received many letters asking him to reply and tell them if he was ok. They were mostly from members of The Order. Hedwig was out sending replies to them right now. 

Harry sat down at his desk and wrote a short reply, he tried to put as much detail in it as possible, (AN: Sounds like me!) before sending it to Hermione.

Harry could not wait to get back to Hogwarts, not only to get out of the Dursley's, but so he could do a bit of research. He knew that there must be some way that Sirius could be brought back. The more he thought about though, the more he knew that he would be doing more than a little research.

It was only two more days until Harry would be boarding the train to go to Hogwarts; his summer had been pretty boring. He mostly read through the textbooks he would be using throughout the year for various subjects, _"May as well get a head start," _he thought, _"have to keep my mind busy,"_

He had tried so hard to keep his mind off his godfather's death, but so many things reminded him of Sirius. He was sometimes determined not to cut himself and didn't but most of the time, he couldn't stop himself.

AN: Please review! Tell me how I should improve, I know it wasn't that great.


	2. Upon Arrival

**~Alive Again~**

**~Chapter 2~Upon Arrival~**

**AN: Thanks for the reviews, it's good to hear your opinions. In chapter 1, it was assumed that Harry had been cutting throughout the summer on different occasions; I might not have made that very clear. **

Two days later Harry was on platform 9 ¾, he saw Ron and Hermione and they headed towards him. He smiled for the first time in weeks, he was extremely happy to see them.

"Hi Harry!"

 "How was your summer?"

"Terrible," he could not lie to them.

They boarded the train and had a compartment to themselves. On the Hogwarts Express, Harry felt happier that he had felt all summer. The three of them talked about the year ahead and their holidays.

"I personally found the holidays quite boring," said Hermione "though it was good to read the new textbooks."

"I agree completely Hermione," said Harry.

"Fred and George found a cheap place for their store last week," Ron said happily.

"Well, that's great," said Harry and Ron went on to talk more about their new products.

"I'm hoping to get better marks this year," said Hermione later on in the day.

"Are you kidding?" said Ron "You got Outstanding for everything except potions, and even then, it's great that you were able to pass,"

"Yes, well, I've dropped potions now…" she said trailing off.

"What?" exclaimed Harry, "You said you would take it with me!" he was already unhappy that he had to take potions, as he wanted to be an Auror but this made it a lot worse. He was probably one of the only Gryffindors from his year taking the subject.

"I'm sorry Harry; it's just that I didn't really think it was necessary for me to take it," she said. 

Harry frowned; he couldn't help thinking that she would have endured Snape's classes if she had received full marks.

They didn't talk much for the rest of the train trip, it had become dark and they were almost at Hogwarts. As they got of the train, they heard Hagrid's voice calling for first years; Harry was relieved that he was at school for the beginning of term, unlike last year.

As the students headed up to the castle, Harry hoped that this year would be better; the last year was hell for him.

The student entered the Great Hall and watched the first years being sorted into houses. Harry was glad to be there and to catch up with other Gryffindors during the feast. He didn't really talk much as he was thinking quite a bit, he was also concentrating on the meal as he didn't get very good food at the Dursley's.

The Gryffindors went up to the common room when the feast was over, "Ok everyone," said Hermione loudly, "the new password is Anti-Umbridge," many people laughed and cheered at this news.

Harry didn't stay for long in the common room, he left and started walking. He arrived at the entrance to Dumbledore's office but he didn't know the password. "Uh….Chocolate Frogs? …….Mars Bars?" The entrance opened. He grinned to himself _"Second guess," he thought to himself. He walked into Dumbledore's office._

The headmaster was sitting at his desk, "Sit down Harry," he said peering at him from behind his glasses and gesturing to a chair in front of the desk.

"Uh Professor…I was wondering about Sirius…"

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded.

"Is there any way to get him back?"

"Some things were meant to be Harry,"

"It wasn't meant to be, he didn't want to go, he was murdered!"

"Maybe so Harry, but it's all in the past now,"

"But is there anyway?"

"Such things have been tried; they are very dangerous and usually result in more deaths,"

Harry nodded and left the headmaster's office.

 AN: Please review, thanks.


	3. Searching

**~Chapter 3~Searching~**

**AN: Thanks for the reviews.**

Harry stared at his timetable the next morning, he hadn't slept well and he had dark rings under his eyes.

 "Double-potions," Harry grumbled, "typical,"

He walked alone down to the dungeons making sure he would be on time. He entered the classroom; the only other students there were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson. _'Great,' _Harry thought to himself _'Just great, maybe I should have come a bit later,'_

"Aww…here comes Potty the Pothead," said Malfoy, "Taking potions, interesting…"

Harry blocked out the bunch of Slytherins who were boasting about new broomsticks. 

"Ok class!" said Snape, "This will be a theory lesson about illegal potions or those that are controlled by The Ministry," he glanced at Harry as he said this.

_'Well at least I don't have to concentrate too much," _Harry thought, clearly remembering all the times he had stuffed up brewing potions.

Harry paid attention and took notes in the double lesson, he was determined to do well in everything. He was very glad that they weren't doing practical work, Snape only snapped at him three times during Potions for not knowing what various ingredients to various potions were. Harry sometimes wished he had a better memory like Hermione, or even a photographic memory, even though he had read through all of his books, it wasn't as though he had a memory like hers.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were all taking Transfiguration which was their next lesson; they were just doing revision from previous years, which Harry found boring.

*~*~*~*

Harry spent most of the afternoon after classes in the library. He headed straight to the restricted section, he was allowed in there now as he was in his 6th year. He strolled along the shelves not knowing where to look; there were many books and they all looked very old. He kept walking along reading the titles on the bookshelves until he came to a section called 'Death'.

Harry actually learnt quite a bit about death that afternoon, he also did all of his homework that he got that day. He read a few books that he had taken from the shelves, mostly about ghosts. He had been told last year that very few people chose to be ghosts after they died but Harry still had some hope that Sirius had become a ghost. 

Harry was quite hungry so he decided to go to dinner; he took a book with him so he could more read about ghosts after dinner in the common room.

He walked into the Great Hall and sat across the Gryffindor table from Ron and Hermione.

"Harry, where have you been?" Hermione asked.

"Doing homework in the Library that's all," he said.

"We have Quidditch practice next Monday," said Ron.

"Cool," said Harry, he couldn't wait to fly again and to thrash Slytherin. "The Slytherin's have new brooms,"

"What? No!" said Ron bashing his head on the table while he was still chewing. 

Hermione sighed.

"Don't worry," said Harry, "we'll still beat them."

"I hope you're right," said Ron.

That night in the common room, Harry was reading the book he picked up from the library.

_'People who decide to come back as ghosts usually make contact with loved ones soon after they die. Few choose not to make contact at all, __it is quite uncommon.'_

Harry slammed the book shut and headed to the bathrooms walking quickly. He took out his dagger and pressed the blade into his wrist. The blood slowly dripped down his wrist, he sank to the floor, silent tears flowing down his cheeks. He then looked at the permanent writing on the back of his hand and frowned. _'I will not tell lies,'_ those words will be with him for a while. _'Why can't I cope without pain?' he wondered to himself._

_'There has to be a way to get him back,' _he thought, _'there has to,'_

AN: I tried to make it longer, I really did! It's so hard though, I've always had trouble with stuff being too short, especially speeches. Please review anyway.


	4. Extra Lessons

**~Chapter 4~Extra Lessons~**

The next morning in the Great Hall, Harry was eating breakfast while listening to Ron talk excitedly about Quidditch when the post arrived. A barn owl came towards him with a letter.

_Harry,_

_You are to attend special duelling lessons with the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, I believe you have a lesson with her today as well._

_Tonight, at __8.00pm_, meet her in the Entrance Hall.__

_Professor Dumbledore_

"What is it?" asked Hermione.

"I'm supposed to have duelling lessons with the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher tonight,"

"Oh, who is it?" Ron said, "They haven't been in the Great Hall," 

"I'm not sure," Harry said "But it's a woman,"

"Gosh, I wonder who it is," Hermione said, "Dumbledore has been having trouble finding teachers for years, and with everyone looking for Voldemort…."

"Yeah well we have her for first lesson, let's go,"

They walked to their classroom still talking about the new teacher they were about to meet.

When they arrived in the classroom, a young, thin woman entered the room wearing a long black skirt and a grey shirt with a dark jacket over the top of it. She was tall, very pale and had jet black hair, just as Harry did.

"Good morning class, I am Professor Zats," she said "I will be teaching you Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Harry looked at her curiously, and wondered why Dumbledore had chosen her to teach them, and how he had found this woman.

"Today we will be practising how to disarm people and doing other practical work, as I'm not sure where you are up to in your studies."

Harry paired up with Hermione and they practised disarming each other, although Hermione was good, Harry was better.

 Professor Zats walked around the room observing people, "Excellent!" she told Harry as he successfully disarmed Hermione.

"Well, I think all of you are quite good with your disarming charms," she said, "We shall do some slightly more advanced spells,"

The class did some other spells, although they were doing a bit of revision, they learnt about some new ones as well.

At the end of the lesson Harry, Ron and Hermione were the last to leave, when there was no one else in the classroom Professor Zats said "If you could just stay behind for a minute Harry,"

Harry walked up to her desk, she smiled at him, "Are you alright for tonight, 8 o'clock, in the entrance hall?"

"Yes," he replied. Harry new that he could be spending that time looking for a way to bring Sirius back but he knew how important this was.

"I'll see you then,"

*~*~*~*

That afternoon Harry went to the library again, he did his homework to get it out of the way, and then set out for books. He was slightly put off from last night but he tried anyway. He did find some interesting books, he read about rituals to bring back the dead but it didn't say how to and the texts were old and hard to understand. He would have liked to keep looking but he had to get to dinner.

"Where have you been?" asked Hermione.

"The Library again, I find it easier to work there," Harry said, he wondered how long it would be for her and Ron to find out about what he was doing.

*~*~*~*

That night as Harry waited in the entrance hall for Professor Zats, he thought about why he was doing this, he had to kill Voldemort.

Professor Zats soon walked in, "Harry, hello,"

"Hi Professor,"

"Follow me, we are just going to a classroom," she led him to an unused classroom with only a few chairs in it. "Please sit down, I want to talk to you first," Harry sat down on one of the chairs and so did she, "Duelling is very important for you to learn, I know about the prophecy and how you must kill Voldemort," Harry was glad she had said his name, "You must feel as though you have the world on your shoulders,"

"Definitely,"

"Now, it is important that your wand is the best it can be, you have no doubts about it?"

"No, not at all,"

"Good, now I saw how good you were at disarming, I heard you can produce a Pratronus charm, can you show me?"

Harry showed her his Patronus charm and she was quite impressed, after about an hour of trying out charms and spells Professor Zats pocketed her wand. "I think that'll do for tonight," she said.

"Uh… Professor?"

"Yes,"

"Why don't you eat in the Great Hall?"

"I-I….some things are best kept in the dark Harry," she said uncertainly, it was the first time she had seemed unconfident.

"Ok…"

"I'll see you next Wednesday, same time, same place. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Professor."

As Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower, he couldn't help thinking that there was something strange about the new teacher.

AN: 831 words! The longest chapter I've ever written! Hope you liked it, please review!


	5. Reveal

**~Chapter 5~**

**AN: Thanks for the reviews!**

The next day Harry had another Potions lesson, he turned in his homework, it wasn't great but he did his best, pissed off that Hermione wasn't doing Potions and couldn't help him.

After Harry, Ron and Hermione came out of Charms, they passed Cho Chang in the corridor. She gave Harry a sympathetic look. "Why don't you talk to her?" asked Ron.

"Because I don't give a shit anymore,"

"Harry, that's really mean," said Hermione.

"Oh, I mean she doesn't care about me so…. "He trailed off, "I do care about Cedric dying…" Talking about this reminded him of Voldemort and how he must kill him. 

*~*~*~*

That afternoon, Harry went to the Library as usual, completing any homework he had but not having any luck researching. He finally gave up and went to dinner. After he ate, he decided to visit Hagrid, as he hadn't done this for months and felt slightly guilty for not going earlier.

He walked across the grounds towards the hut, the sun had just set and it had become colder. When he arrived at the hut he knocked on the large wooden door, he then realised that he had heard voices that suddenly stopped. 

Hagrid soon appeared at the door and hugged Harry, "Come in Harry, just have a visitor," Harry entered the hut and saw Professor Zats inside. 

"Well, I must be off then," she said picking up a large flask and quickly walked out of the hut waving goodbye.

"What was she doing here?" asked Harry after Hagrid had shut the door.

"That's none of your business, she's doing her best coming to me for animal blood – "Hagrid said quickly without thinking.

"What? Animal blood?"

"Oh, I shouldn't have told you that…"

"She's a vampire?"

"Yes – Oh – I shouldn't have told you that," Hagrid looked quite annoyed with himself. "Listen, Dumbledore doesn't want anyone knowing; don't go telling anyone who can't keep the secret,"

"I wondered about why Dumbledore had suddenly chosen her,"

"Yes, she has been loyal to Dumbledore for some time and she's been having trouble getting a job of course so I agreed to helping her fetch animal blood, although it's not as nice as human blood."

"God we always have the weirdest Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers, I'm glad she isn't evil though."

"No, vampires aren't evil; she is still half human, just like Remus Lupin,"

The two of them talked for a while and Harry apologised for not coming to see Hagrid earlier in the week as he left.

*~*~*~*

On Friday afternoon Harry was, once again, in the library. He had just found a particularly old looking book, he turned a page and saw that the book contained a ritual to bring someone back from the dead. Harry felt mixed emotions as he read on.

_'The deceased must be willing to walk the Earth again, they cannot be brought back against their will.  This ritual must be performed with good intentions, it must not be used to seek knowledge about the afterlife-'_

"Harry, what are you reading?" It was Hermione.

"Nothing," He had quickly shoved the book under his backpack.

"Don't be stupid," She picked up the book from under his back and opened it to the page he was reading, she quickly looked around to see if anyone was within earshot, "Harry," she said quietly "this is very complex, and some of the things you need, blood of someone close to the deceased – that's you Harry,"

"But he didn't want to die, he wasn't meant to" he said in an urgent whisper, "Please help me Hermione,"

"I'll help you gather ingredients, but I can't help you with the ritual, you have to do it yourself,"

AN: Please review, I hope you liked it.


	6. The Ritual

**~Chapter 6~**

**~The Ritual~**

Harry opened the old book at the page of the ritual once more to check that he had everything he needed, he closed the book after checking carefully and sneezed from the dust. It was late and he would be performing the ritual the following night. He was not tired, he had no desire to sleep soon, he observed the cover of the book, and it was so old that he couldn't make out the title but he could see the pattern imprinted on it.

Harry put the book down and sighed as he remembered the events of the past few days, he had told Ron about his findings and they had both raided Snape's office to gather various things.

That night, Harry's dreams were filled with vivid paranoid visions of Sirius's face and in his animagus form.

*~*~*~*

The next night, when everyone but Harry, Hermione and Ron had left the common room, Harry was getting everything ready with the help of Ron and Hermione. He put everything carefully into his backpack with his dagger. The other two didn't ask about it or where he got it from. Who knows, maybe they assumed. 

"Good luck mate," said Ron seriously.

"Yes, good luck Harry," said Hermione who looked extremely worried.

Harry put his Invisibility Cloak on and headed through the castle and out onto the grounds. He walked at a steady pace across the open ground to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

He paused for a moment with nerves, and then feeling the adrenaline inside him give him a sudden boost of energy he entered the forest.

He walked awkwardly through the dark, eerie forest, when he thought he was far enough inside with enough cover to block any light from being seen from the castle, he lit the lantern he had brought along.

He walked on the overgrown path that he knew led to a clearing, occasionally hearing the strange noises that the forest had to offer, he did not stop to think about what these noises were, he had more important things on his mind.

Harry finally arrived at the clearing, the place he had been longing to see for days. He put down his backpack and walked around in a circle putting 38 white candles on the ground and lighting them. Each candle symbolised a year of Sirius's life and the white represented spirit. He sat down in the middle of the circle and placed the largest part of the broken mirror that Sirius had given him last year in front of him. He read aloud from the book, and then reading what he had composed himself:

_I call upon the deities of the afterlife,_

_To guide Sirius Black back to this world,_

_To live and breathe on Earth as he once did, _

_As a wise godfather, _

_Noble friend and fighter, _

_Loyal to the good of mankind.___

_For he was taken away against his will, _

_When he wanted to be on Earth the most, _

_Fighting for the downfall of the Dark Lord, _

_Against the Death Eater that so evilly and carelessly took away his life. _

He then looked into the mirror piece, visualising Sirius's face.

He then cut into his arm, drawing blood, letting it pour onto the ground in front of him.

_So it is my request that he be back on Earth,_

_That he was never meant to leave,_

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the clearing changed, Harry saw images, flashbacks; the first time he saw Sirius in Animangus form, human form, Sirius in Grimmauld Place, Sirius about to die….. He then saw the veil in front of him, he heard the whispers. There was a flash of light and he found Sirius in front of him, alive but weak.

"Harry,"

"Sirius!" Harry sobbed.

AN: Please, please, please, please review! Do you want to read more or was it rubbish? Sequel? 


	7. Aftermath and trial

**~Chapter 7~**

**~Aftermath and trial~**

AN: I decided to continue, please R&R!

Harry walked down the Hogwarts corridors to the Headmaster's office late in the night reflecting on what had happened a week ago. After the successful ritual, Sirius was very weak; it wasn't exactly a smooth trip coming back from the dead but he would be alright. That night was a blur to Harry, he had taken Sirius back through the forest and to the Hospital Wing. Dumbledore was immediately called there to face an emotional Harry and Sirius.

When Harry arrived at the entrance to the headmaster's office, Sirius greeted him there. Harry hugged him, he was glad to see that Sirius looked much better, the colour had returned to his face and he looked happier. 

"Come on Harry, Dumbledore has some important news," Sirius said.

They walked into the office finding Remus Lupin and Dumbledore at his desk, "Sit down you two," he said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.

"I have good news; we have now provided the Ministry with enough evidence to clear you of all charges Sirius."

"That's great!" said Harry, smiling at Sirius.

"Yes, Harry you need to go to the Ministry for the trial, there you will be questioned and so will Peter Pettigrew-"

"What, you found him?" Harry asked.

"No," said Lupin, "He turned himself in to the ministry,"

"Why?"

"We are not entirely sure," said Dumbledore "He turned himself in for exchange for protection, this way he can't go to Azkaban. As you know Voldemort's followers want him dead because they think he contributed to his downfall."

"So if the ministry protected him, he wouldn't have to worry about hiding," said Lupin "And he wouldn't have us on his trail,"

"Harry, the trial will be next Saturday," said Dumbledore, "Make sure you remember what happened in your third year especially,"

Harry nodded.

"Remus will accompany you there,"

Sirius walked with Harry back to Gryffindor Tower, "I'll try to spend as much time as I can with you now Harry,"

"That would be great," said Harry, not knowing what else to say, he was still getting over the shock of having Sirius around again.

"Although these are very bad times, you know what you have to do and you have my support all the way,"

Harry stopped walking as they had arrived at the tower and hugged Sirius once again. "Thank you Sirius," he said with tears in his eyes.

*~*~*~*

The next Saturday, Harry met Lupin in the entrance hall early in the morning. They walked to Hogsmead, and then travelled to the Ministry in London. The two of them talked about the events that happened in Harry's third year to refresh his memory, they decided to conveniently leave out the part about Sirius wanting to commit the crime that he was imprisoned for in the first place.

They arrived in the courtroom on time finding Sirius and Dumbledore already there, Peter Pettigrew was in chains and he looked very nervous.

The trial commenced and Sirius was questioned first.

"You are an unregistered Animagus?"

"Yes,"

"And this is how you escaped from Azkaban?"

"I had to escape," Sirius said, he could see where this was going, "I was innocent, I had the chance to escape and I did,"

"Very well then, you were not hiding Lily and James Potter?"

"No, that was Peter Pettigrew,"

"Did you trust him at the time?"

"At the time I thought it was a good idea, I knew Voldemort would be after me,"

"Regarding the killing of thirteen muggles, what exactly happened?"

"I approached Peter about his betrayal, I was extremely angry, he panicked and blew apart the street, he cut off his finger before going into his animagus form,"

This was the end of Sirius's questioning for now; Peter was to be questioned.

"You are also an unregistered animagus?"

"Yes," said Peter who was quite restless and rattling his chains in the process.

"What is your animagus form?"

"A rat,"

"I see, this allowed you to flee to the sewers?"

"Yes,"

"Do you agree with what Sirius said?"

"Well, I…..yes," he hung his head in shame.

Peter was questioned some more but this didn't make much progress.

Harry was then called for questioning.

"Three years ago, you saw Peter transform from his animagus form to a human?"

"Yes,"

He was then asked to recap on the events that happened that night.

The court then made their decision, they didn't take very long. 

"The court finds Sirius Black cleared of all charges. Peter Pettigrew will be placed under the Ministry's protection."

Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore and Harry made their way back to Hogwarts together. They were all extremely happy. 

"I do think that Peter deserved a harsher punishment," Sirius said.


End file.
